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First Day of Class
August 16, 2011
Getting to know your students
Use part of the first day of class to gather some information about the students in your class, how they perceived their roles as students, and their expectations about the class by asking them to respond to two questions:
- What do you believe about teaching? What is the role of a teacher? What do you expect a teacher to do?
- What do you believe about learning? What is the role of a learner? What do you expect a learner to do?
Before class, write your own answers to these questions so that you can identify matches and mismatches in your assumptions about teaching and learning and those of your students. Students from varying cultural backgrounds may respond to these questions in unexpected ways.
This activity is also a great self-reflection exercise to articulate your thoughts about teaching and learning that will help you develop a statement of your philosophy of teaching.
Based in part on a tip submitted by Emma Bourassa, Instructor, ESL Department, Thompson Rivers University (http://www.tru.ca/).
January 4, 2011
Engage students in your course by placing it in the context of the student’s major
Students enroll in courses for a variety of reasons, some intrinsic, some extrinsic. They might be curious about a topic or discipline. They might have heard positive comments about an instructor from other students. Or the course might be required, either for all majors in a discipline (or related discipline) or as an option to meet a graduation requirement.
Students who register for a course for intrinsic reasons arrive on the first day excited and motivated to engage in the course. Students who register primarily because a course satisfies a requirement might feel coerced in their choice and be resistant to engaging in the course. How can instructors engage and motivate students who arrive with ambivalence about the course?
Students sometimes select a major without fully understanding the breadth and skill expectations of the discipline. They might regard some required courses merely as obstacles to their goals rather than as important components of the knowledge and skills that characterize the discipline. The first day of a class is a good opportunity to place the course in the context of the major and clarify the importance of the learning outcomes associated with that course for development of professional skill in the discipline.
Courses that function as service courses to a variety of majors may present additional challenges, although the subset of learning outcomes that align with the program outcomes the course serves should be identified. Instructors might benefit by learning which students are enrolled in their course to pursue a major in the discipline and which students are enrolled for other reasons. This information can be useful later in the term when selecting specific examples of applications to discuss in class. Including applications that are relevant to service programs as well as applications within the major discipline will help keep these students engaged throughout the term.
December 7, 2010
Use T-charts to develop metacognitive skills in students
T-Charts are tables or matrices (graphic organizers) in which students list and examine facets of a topic, such as the pros and cons of a position, describe the advantages and disadvantages of several potential solutions to a problem, or identify pieces of information on a controversial topic as either facts or opinions.
Use T-Charts to develop skills. We often assume that students already know the skills they need to thrive in our classrooms. However, students often cannot describe the specific behaviors intended by words faculty use to describe their expectations for classroom behaviors, such as participation, preparation or listening. Similarly, students do not necessarily connect behaviors such as punctuality, use of communication tools, and characteristics of their discourse with teachers and peers to the concept of civility.
Consider the responses students might give to the following question: What are the boundaries for an acceptable response when a peer makes a point you find offensive? Students might not respond to this prompt by articulating specific behaviors. The ability of students to articulate and engage in appropriate behaviors that faculty describe in response to this question represent team skills that are critical to successful functioning in a collaborative workplace.
In addition to using a T-chart to develop firm expectations about team skill, this acitivity can be used to help students develop specific study skills, such as reading a textbook or listening for and understanding another’s point of view. Create a T-chart to show visually what “active listening” sounds and looks like in terms of specific behaviors.
An instructor could develop a T-chart to describe expectations and distribute this as a handout. However, creating a chart collaboratively can have a more powerful effect because the activity will develop consensus and create buy-in. Constructing a T-chart with student input requires about 5 minutes of class time. The activity can also be used to encourage students to model some of the skills. This activity is a great opportunity for creating student engagement and class participation, often with a refreshing touch of humor. T-charts can be created to focus on any skill you would like to develop.
This tip was adapted from a contribution to the Teaching and Learning Writing Consortium, (sponsored by Western Kentucky University) by Michael Dabney, Director, Teaching and Learning Center, Hawaii Pacific University (http://www.hpu.edu/index.cfm?contentID=9473&siteID=1).
November 9, 2010
Improve the technical preparation of students in your class by describing the technical skills and specialized software needed for your course during course registration
Students will begin registering for courses on November 15.
All UWF students are expected to have an active ArgoNet e-mail account, regular access to e-mail (2-3 times a week), and basic skills in the use of a word processor. Many courses make additional demands on technology skills, including the ability to use web conferencing for Elluminate sessions, access to D2L, the ability to use course functions in D2L (such as uploading material to an assignment drop box), and the use of specialized software required for tasks such as statistical analysis, creation of power point presentations, or creation and manipulation of digital images.
The academic course search pages on the UWF web site include icons for each course that allow students to view the course syllabus, determine whether the course is an eLearning course or a distance learning course (and whether the instructor will be present in the location for that section), determine the extent of computer use expected in the course, and identify other technology needs associated with the course (special software available only in a lab, Elluminate, need to purchase a clicker, use of proctored exams, and other specialized software or technology needs).
If you expect students to use specific technology in your course, identify these needs on your syllabus and set the appropriate technology codes for the course. After logging into MyUWF, select the Classmate App and then click on the Syllabus/Tech Codes link under Action to open an interface for uploading your syllabus. This interface also includes drop-down menus that allow instructors to set technology codes for their course. When a technology code is selected, the appropriate icon will appear in the course search output for this course. A full list of the technology codes available for the course search interface can be found at https://nautical.uwf.edu/people/techCodesExplained.cfm.
April 6, 2010
Help students organize their learning by identifying the “big questions” for your course
Gerald Nosich (2009) points out that any large body of knowledge has a core belief, “a fundamental and powerful concept . . . that can be used to explain or think out a huge body of questions, problems, information, and situations.” Fundamental concepts are useful for instruction because they help students understand and organize the course content. Blythe and Sweet note that they begin their courses in World Literature each semester with a discussion of one fundamental idea that illuminates the overall content of the course: Art reflects its culture. In each subsequent class, they discuss how the work studied that day reveals something about the culture that produced it.
Identifying a few fundamental concepts for your course serves two purposes. First, it demonstrates your own mastery of the subject. Second, it creates a touchstone for your students to organize their understanding of new content throughout the semester. These fundamental concepts will also transfer to other courses within the discipline. When students complete a course in World Literature and then take a course in English or American Literature, they will begin these courses with the advantage of knowing that the works they will study will reveal aspects of English or American culture.
Tip contributed by Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY.
Nosich, G. (2009). Learning to think things through: A guide to critical thinking across the curriculum (3rd ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
January 12, 2010
Help students succeed in your course by sharing effective study strategies
As experts in academia, faculty sometimes forget that the study habits that enabled them to be successful as students and distinguished them as competitive applicants to graduate programs were (and continue to be) rare skills among undergraduate students. Share your expertise as a student with your students and describe the skills and habits they should acquire to be successful in your course.
An example of this sharing of expertise is the following handout that Julie Ann Williams provides to students in her Operations Management course at the beginning of the term. Although some of her advice is specific to successful completion of this course, much advice is transferrable to other courses.
How to Be Successful in MAN3504
- Prepare for class. At the beginning of each lecture section, a list of preparation tasks are listed. For maximum learning and grade benefit, do these tasks prior to the lecture. The preparation tasks include reading appropriate materials, reviewing solved problems, thinking about discussion problems, working problems, and thinking about application issues. Many of the practice problems have solutions posted on eLearning. Student feedback has indicated that separating practice questions and solutions helped them to study better for the quizzes and tests.
- Attend every class on time with your textbook and course packet, calculator, and ruler, ready to take notes and enjoy discussing the topics.
- Review your notes after each lecture.
- Check your course eLearning website and email for any new course materials as well as for solutions to some of the preparation practice problems.
- Email or bring questions to class or office hours, especially before each quiz! For example, bring a question from your lecture preparation activities to class.
- Work the practice problems in your course packet as well as even numbered problems (for which your textbook provides answers to check your work). Practice will help you learn the methods so you can apply them in a timely manner. Some of the practice problems have detailed solutions on eLearning.
- Study for quizzes, the midterm, and the final. Take every quiz! Even though there is a drop quiz, you will still see that material on a midterm or exam.
- Look for applications in your everyday life and the business world. For example, past students have brought examples of packaging design (we discussed the impact on the supply chain, etc.), product design, process design, menu design, scheduling, etc. that we discussed in class. Bringing an example of operations management concepts will make the course more interesting and relevant to you.
Thanks to Julie Ann Williams for sharing this handout.
Julie Ann Stuart Williams, Ph.D., P.E.
Associate Professor
Department of Management/MIS
University of West Florida
December 1, 2009
Electronic Information Literacy: Promoting Netiquette in your Class
The campus migration to Gmail provides us with an opportunity to revisit how faculty and students use e-mail for communication. Capitalize on this opportunity by discussing e-mail netiquette with students in your class.
The introduction of electronic communication (e-mail, online threaded discussions, Twitter feeds, etc.) to class interaction poses a new set of challenges for instructors: Teaching students to communicate professionally in electronic media. Faculty might initially think of this issue mainly in terms of their own response to inappropriate language from students in e-mail (Hey! Missed class yesterday. Did I miss anything?) and posts to online discussions (i don’t get the reading this week – booooooring : - ( will this be on the test?).
Effective communication through electronic media is an important skill. Help your students develop this skill with the following strategies:
- Establish some guidelines and communicate these clearly at the beginning of class. Put your guidelines in your syllabus along with your guidelines for appropriate conduct in class. Post your guidelines with course materials and in the instructions for threaded discussions in an online course.
- Guidelines for effective communication through e-mail might include the following:
- Create meaningful subject lines. Some instructors require students to identify the course number in the subject line. Faculty can use this information to filter and label messages from one class and redirect these messages to a specific group outside the inbox in Gmail.
- Subject lines should briefly describe the topic of the message.
- Describe appropriate (and inappropriate) salutations. If you have a preference, state how you would like to be addressed. Students appreciate direct instruction about how their instructor wants to be addressed in face-to-face interactions, too.
- Senders should clearly identify themselves. Who is Jen who mails from hothonney@yahoo.com? Remind students of the impression these informal e-mail addresses have when students use them for professional communications.
- Pay attention to whether you are using reply or reply all to avoid distributing private messages to unintended parties.
- Remember to attach attachments.
- Encourage students to think of e-mail communication and posts to online discussions as a form of academic writing, which requires the use of standard grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Good web guidelines on netiquette can be found at the following:
Virginia Commonwealth University
Center for Teaching Excellence
http://www.vcu.edu/cte/resources/OTLRG/04_12_Behavior.html
Texas Tech University
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center
http://www.tltc.ttu.edu/content/asp/webct/student/netiquette.asp
August 25, 2009
Setting the tone for your class: Guiding students toward effective study strategies
Use class time during the first week of the term to provide students with guidelines and suggestions for successful study strategies. Examples of study discussion topics included the following:
- How to take notes effectively while reading the required text or during class meetings
- The importance of supplementing bullet headings in class PowerPoint slides with additional information provided during class or found in relevant assigned readings
- How to form an effective study group – rules for cooperation (focus on study, not socializing; quizzing one another; comparing notes from lecture, reading, peer review, etc.)
- How to prepare for exams. Karpicke, Butler, & Roedgier (2009) report that students hold false beliefs about the effectiveness of various study strategies. Many students believe that reading the chapter several times is a good study strategy, but in actuality, this strategy is ineffective. Students will make better use of their study time if they use it for more effective study activities such as developing and answering questions they can expect to see on the exam, writing paraphrases of concepts in their own words and checking these against the reading or to another student’s interpretation to ensure that the paraphrase captures the intended meaning correctly. Encourage students to use more effective strategies when they study.
Karpicke, J. D., Butler, A. C., & Roediger, III, H. L. (2009). Metacognitive strategies in student learning: Do students practice retrieval when they study on their own? Memory, 17, 471-479.
January 6, 2009
Setting the Tone for your Class
Use the instructional strategies you plan to use during the semester on the first day. If you want students to talk in class, create a discussion activity for the first day. If you plan to use groups, put students in groups and have them complete a relevant activity on the first day. If you plan to ask students to write, have students complete a short reflective writing activity. If you want the students to be in charge of their own learning, start with an activity in which students are the experts and cannot rely on you for information. For example, introductory psychology courses often address common myths about human behavior. An instructor might include a brainstorming activity in which students identify common myths about student behaviors in dorms.
For additional suggestions for the first day of class, consult the following web site:
Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence
Carnegie Mellon University
http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/firstday.html
December 2, 2008
Setting and Clarifying Expectations and Goals in the First Week of Class
Consider beginning your class by asking students why they are in your class and what they expect to gain from their experience in this class (Benjamin, 2005). Instructors may be surprised to learn that students frequently have different goals for their courses. An activity that identifies and clarifies instructor and student expectations and goals can benefit both students and instructors. An explicit comparison of student and instructor goals creates student buy-in to the course and provides the instructor with an opportunity to explain why he or she uses certain teaching strategies, activities, and course assignments. Instructors can also explain how the course fits into the overall curriculum for the discipline and describe the skills students can expect to acquire that will benefit them in subsequent courses and future professional activities.
The following first-week activity helps establish a common set of goals and expectations (Barnett, 1999).
Ask students to write down their goals and expectations for the course by asking the following questions:
- What do you expect to learn in this course?
- How do you think this course is related to other courses in your major? (or, for a general education course or other service course – how is the course related to other courses in your degree program?)
- Why are you enrolled in this course?
- How do you expect this course to prepare you for additional work in this discipline?
Immediate pair-share activity
Ask students to work in groups of 3-4 and compare their goals.
Share the group’s goals and expectations with the class as a whole.
During this discussion, the instructor should identify his/her goals and expectations, highlight those goals that are shared with students, and describe the role of the course in the larger curriculum. When possible, discuss how student-generated goals might be attained within the context of the overall course goals.
Benefits
Instructors might get some insights into student motivation from this activity. Sometimes we will discover opportunities that allow us to meet unanticipated student needs by making minor adjustments without compromising the primary goals of the course. Benjamin (2005) argues that this activity allows instructors to publicly respond to student needs without necessarily making major changes to their courses. The discussion sets a collaborative tone at the onset of the course, improves student motivation, and enhances overall satisfaction with the course. Similarly, Barnett (1999) reports that students are more understanding of the need for the quantity of work demanded during the course when the role of these assignments for developing skill is made clear at the outset.
Barnett, M. A. (1999). On the same wavelength? Clarifying course expectations and goals. Teaching Concerns. Newsletter of the Teaching Resource Center for Faculty and Teaching Assistants, University of Virginia. (http://trc.virginia.edu)
Benjamin, Jr., L. T. (2005). Setting course goals: Privileges and responsibilities in a world of ideas. Teaching of Psychology, 32, 146-149.
August 26, 2008
The First Class Meeting: Setting the Tone for your Class
The first day of class is full of symbolic messages (Lang, 2008). Your arrival time sends a symbolic message about your attitude about timeliness. Your dress sends a message about your perception of your role as an instructor. Your behavior during class sends a message about your enthusiasm for your discipline and the way you plan to conduct the class during the term. If the first class meeting consists of a lecture on the syllabus that ends early, this sends a message that time in class is dispensable. Requiring students to talk during the first class meeting establishes a clear expectation that they will participate and contribute to future class discussions.
During the first class meeting, ask students to find a partner and identify 2 or 3 questions about the syllabus and the course. The questions might be about information you did not include on the syllabus or they might address information that is included on the syllabus but that the students don’t understand. A general discussion of the syllabus on the first day gives students an overview of the structure of the course and creates an opportunity for you to preview the “big issues” you plan to address and allows you to communicate your excitement about your discipline.
Lang, J. M. (2008). On course: A week-by-week guide to your first semester of college teaching. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
August 19, 2008
Describe Expectations for Classroom Behavior in Your Syllabus
Many instructors include a paragraph about expectations for classroom behavior in their syllabus. (See the CUTLA web page on syllabus construction for a discussion of recommended and required elements of a UWF syllabus.) This practice may be particularly useful for courses with large enrollments of “millennial” students, who may arrive in college classes with attitudes about acceptable classroom behavior that differ from the expectations of faculty.
Some instructors leave this section of their syllabus open and hold a discussion during the first class meeting to establish mutual rules of conduct that will promote learning. In this activity, students identify student behaviors that disrupt their ability to concentrate and learn during class. They may also describe instructor behaviors that benefit (or disrupt) their ability to learn. Similarly, instructors contribute their expectations about student demeanor. This discussion helps socialize students who might be uninformed about appropriate academic behavior and allows the class to reach consensus about how it will function as a community.
CUTLA web page on syllabus construction: http://uwf.edu/cutla/frs-syllabus.cfm
May 13, 2008
Use the first day of class to set the tone for the remainder of the term. Engaged students are expected to ask questions and participate in class. Create an activity on the first day that will engage students and force them to speak. An easy way to do this is to use an icebreaker activity that will enable students to meet one another. This has the added benefit that comes when students develop a personal connection with classmates and potential study partners.
A simple icebreaker activity is to arrange students in groups of 3-5. Give the students 5 minutes to introduce themselves to each other and identify three non-obvious things they have in common (hobbies, city where they grew up, travel to another country, musical interests, etc.). Each group should report back to the entire class, introducing the members of the group and noting their common characteristics. Students might misinterpret this activity as pure fun-and-games, so take some time to explain your goals to learn student names, introduce students to potential study-buddies, and create a class expectation that everyone can (and will) participate.
Source: Not Quite 101 Ways to Learning Students’ Names, Michael Palmer (Spring, 2004). University of Virginia Teaching Resource Center. Web site: http://trc.virginia.edu/Publications/Teaching_Concerns/Misc_Tips/Learn_Names.htm
Updated 02/13/12 cdw